Getting back to Boston

Went to SHS for a midnight fish, only to find the gates locked (probably a good idea in retrospect). So I drove home, put the car up and went to run three laps around the mall. Incredibly boring (and ridiculously windy), but the first five miles of 2012 are in the book. Took nearly an hour to do them, thanks to very stiff legs from Saturday morning's 20-miler, but they're done.

106 laps at MAFC after work. Actually managed to keep the HR down pretty well; I let it drift up to AHR 122 in the final mile. Pace was around 10:00 once I settled in. With 41 hours since the last run, I'd had decent recovery time, even though that run was yesterday. Now the trick will be to have an OK run at 8 a.m. tomorrow. Hopefully this didn't take much out of me and I can knock out another 8 or 9 miles. If I can run 5/6 of the time (305 runs) and average something over 8, that'll get me to my 2012 mileage goal -- and hopefully to a PR or two along the way.

Balmy 24 degrees this morning, so broke out the tights. Tried to push the pace a little more, and succeeded (last few miles were down around 9:10 pace), but ther AHR was still only 128.

Legs pretty heavy this morning, so kept it slow. Even with that, AHR virtually identical to yesterday's much-quicker run. Really felt it on the hills, like coming up Rogers from Creekmore Park, or up Duncan toward the Casa. Temp was about 34 at the start, and I felt fine in shorts. Actually, probably a little overdressed with long-sleeved tech shirt, fleece headband and gloves. Also probably would have helped if I'd had something other than coffee for breakfast. Hoping work is less hectic than yesterday. After a slow start, it got really crazy around 4:00 and stayed that way until 9:30.

Took the morning off, ran after work instead at MAFC. Just kept slogging, wound up with 133 laps in 99 minutes plus. Haven't downloaded the Garmin yet, but I'm pretty sure I kept the AHR to 125 or so. I'm also pretty sure I've lost my lap clicker, which irritates me. I know where to get another one, but it still irritates me. I used the Garmin tonight to help me keep track, on the basis that four laps at the pace I was going roughly equaled three minutes (I was very slightly quicker than that, but never got more than a minute ahead of that pattern).

 Figured out what I need to average per month to get to my mileage goal. The 31-day months, I need 221 miles; 214 in the 30-day months; and 207 in February. Of course, any months I can exceed that will be banked against the inevitable niggles/illness/schedule conflicts that seem to take me out of a run at least one day a week on average. It's gonna take consistency, some luck with my health, and pure-dee OCD to get there. Let's see if I can pull it off.

It's 12:07 a.m., I've been home from work for less than 15 minutes, and it's time for bed. Night. 

Seven this morning after 10 last night. Took probably 2.5 miles to get loose, but as I did, the HR came down and so did the pace. Still wound up with a 10:05 average, but that's OK. Not a bad run coming less than 10 hours after the last one. 

Cotton Bowl tonight, which will probably keep me up late, so I may wait to do 10+ until Sunday morning. Six-plus will get me over 50, which is a decent mileage for a work week. 

Pre-work "until" run -- run until I finish or until they call me to go to work. Timed it just about perfectly; my phone went off after I turned back onto Burnham Court, with less than 15 seconds left in the run. Came up just six seconds short of two hours for 12.29 miles AHR was about 131, but I did push the pace just a little bit more, and it was about 50 degrees, warmer than it's been for morning runs lately. Since I missed yesterday, may do a shortie after work just to get to my 60-mile week.

Now for some Nesquik and off to the salt mines. Then we'll see what happens this week in and around Bella Vista <evil grin>. 

Ninety minutes at the track. Dallied around until after dark, then remembered that the WAR crew was supposed to be doing speedwork at 6. I wasn't going to do speedwork, but figured it would be nice to be out there with some friends anyway. Except, as far as I could tell, none of them showed. There was one guy and one woman running 200s, but didn't recognize either one. Anyway, run went well. Worked to keep the pace and HR down for the first six miles or so, then picked it up, trying to finish 15K in 90 minutes. Didn't quite get there (missed by 100 meters), but kept going and finished 15K in 90:30. AHR was still around 130 anyway.

Easy 9+ at MAFC, since it was cold and rainy all day. I could have gone outside if I had to, but didn't have to, so just do it inside. Wasn't sure I was going to get through it, though. Legs took forever to loosen up, and just about the time they finally warmed up, I got nauseated. Kept going, nothing came up, and actually felt good for the last 2-3 miles. Briefly considered going on to finish 10, but nah. This was fine. Lost track of the laps without a clicker and ran one extra, so it was 9.13 instead of 9.06. Keep this up, do a decent run Saturday morning, and this might be a 75-mile week. It's gonna be cold starting tomorrow night, though; I'm hearing maybe teens for lows. Tights time!

Gorgeous day, so got out earlyish, like before 11. Original plan was to do 9, then it just kept expanding. Wound up doing 13+. Did a lot of thinking in those two hours; a few things happened in the last 24 hours for me to think about. No conclusions, yet, but will explore some things. Anyway, run was comfortable. Warm enough that my AHR crept up to 130, but I kept the pace around 10:00 until the last mile or so, when I just got ready to get it over with. Well on my way to a 70-mile week, which wouldn't be bad for an old guy in January. Now waiting for the cold snap to arrive. Saturday morning with the WAR crew might be rather interesting.

A pretty major day for the old Spiderpig. Got named Midlevel of the Month at work, and it got better from there. Had a really good 10-miler at dusk, and it still got better.  I have a woman in my life now, and I'm about as sure as I can be that she's going to stay there for a while. I've thought she was very attractive since I've known her, but I didn't think I had a snowball's chance. Turns out, very fortuitously, I was wrong. She's wanted to get together with me, and yesterday she started taking steps to make that happen, since I evidently wasn't catching her hints (Never have done subtle well, have I, Pam?). Fortunately for both of us, her direct approach worked. And the last 24 hours or so has been a whirlwind; my mind is reeling.

I'm still completely stunned that she's interested in me at all, never mind that this has been going on for a while, but I'm absolutely thrilled about it. And my coverage has been way, way outkicked. Thank goodness she called for the fair catch, to extend the bad football analogy.

So after very little sleep, and talking/texting to her pretty much nonstop from 5:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., then the work meeting and a failed attempt at a nap, I ran that 10.6 at 9:30 pace on pure adrenaline. Still pretty wired, even though I'm exhausted. Tomorrow, probably 6-8, then a dinner date with her. Saturday, although she has to clear it with her visiting daughter, I hope to spend the afternoon and evening in Fedvul with her, including Bordino's and basketball. And a trip to get her fitted for running shoes; on top of everything else, she's a runner (how perfect is this?). But before heading north, a morning run with the WAR crew. I'll get GF out there with WAR eventually, but not quite yet.

If she can't go, I'm still going to the game, but I really hope she can make it. It'll be a fun afternoon/evening.

Easy, easy 9ish. Legs felt a little heavy, understandable given lack of sleep, lack of food and heavy training load this week, but got through OK at 10:25 average. A little late lunch, a little nap, then get ready for the big date with my girlfriend. Man, I wondered if I'd ever use those words: "my girlfriend."

I'd planned to get up early and go to Chaffee to run with WAR this morning,. Nope. Not happening. Sleep was minimal and fitful last night, after I got home shortly after midnight. Really no idea why. I didn't get any good sleep until after 4:30. So when the alarm went off at 6:45, forget about it.

Got up 8ish, I guess, communicated a little with GF by text, chatted on FB and RWOL, tracked Leah and others in the Olympic Trials, then worked out a training plan for Cindy for her next race over FB. And watched people scrambling to try to figure out who I'm dating. This oughta be good. I don't care who knows; I'm proud to be dating her, but she doesn't want the word out yet, and I'm going to respect that. And I know every person who actually knows her identity (a very, very short list). So if somebody says so and so told them, I know so and so is full of it.

 Anyway, after all that, went out for 8.3. It had warmed up into the 50s, so I was quite comfortable in singlet and shorts. Also glad I wore the sunglasses; I needed them. Wound up with 72+ for the week, never going more than 13ish. Brick by brick, the base is being built. Gonna be hard to do 70 next week with working, but I can do 50+, I'm sure. Then back to 60s or 70s the following week. Also back to dating. Work and dating aren't going to coexist due to schedule conflicts, but that's tolerable (barely). Get through the work week, then see her on the off weeks.

Easy, easy on a Sunday morning.

Up predawn; highly unusual for me. I needed to get a run in, then go look for a new mattress, then go to work for 12 hours. Pushed the run just a tad and liked the results. Average was 9:33 with the last mile in sub-9, including up the hill to the house. AHR still where I like it, even with the surge. Wound up doing 9.11. Now to go find a nice squishy pillowtop mattress.

Got a nice surprise at work yesterday. GF came up there for some reason and I got, not only o see her, but a little lunch date. Made my whole day better. And I wasn't nearly as surly as I usually am on a Sunday, even though the Packers lost.

Now to shower and mattress store... 

Windy day for a 7 miler. Temps 40ish, but wind made it more tolerable even as it climbed into the 50s (amazing how the 50s can seem warm). Kept the AHR to 126. 

Date after work tonight with GF (I hope). We'll see how it goes. 

Date went very, VERY well last night and I had to get up today and wait for my new mattress to be delivered. That combination, along with a heavy set of legs, caused me to decide to take today off. I've done 16 runs in 18 days; if I can keep the RD rate to around 10% and stay healthy, I should hit all my mileage goals and then some. Better sleep on the new mattress should help keep the RD rate down too. I hope.

Need to go back and update for Tuesday...

Took Wednesday off from running because of mattress delivery and the fact I was up too late Tuesday night :) Then last night at work, I found out my schedule at work changes immediately: Instead of 10 to 10, I'm now 1 to 1, possibly becoming 2 to 2. Which is OK; it gives me more time for daylight runs before work. But to change schedules in the middle of the workweek is kinda weird. It's happened, though, so deal with it. Got to work today at like 12:52.

So this morning, after sleeping to 9:30, I did 8.3 easy on the SHS/Cliff/Free Ferry loop. AHR probably around 130, so needed to slow down a little, but I didn't want to dawdle out there too much. It was also a little warm; climbed into the 50s during the run.

So now I have 11 hours of work left. We'll see how this works. The change came down as an edict from the CEO to get more daytime coverage. So swing shift was eliminated, that doc moves to days, and I shifted later basically to take over swing shift.

Afternoon run, mainly memorable because I got to Southside at the time school was letting out and had to dodge all kinds of 17-year-old drivers. A bit scary. I was fine, maybe even a tad warm, in singlet and shorts, but at about the same time GF was running near her house and freezing. Funny how people respond so differently to the same conditions.

Until run after time at GFs, and nap, and Hog basketball.

Really had a hard time motivating myself to get out the door; finally did so around 3:30 p.m. It was pretty chilly this morning, but turned out to be a quite nice afternoon. Running in t-shirt and shorts was quite comfortable. Sunglasses came in handy too, until sun got behind tree level. Ended up stretching the run past 11, which almost got me to a 50-mile week, but 49 and change is adequate. And tonight's run cut it real close on the call to come into work, which came moments after I got out of the shower.

Keep doing 70+ on the off weeks, 50 on the work weeks, and I'll get a 3000-mile year. I do need to work in some XT on the upper body; I've noticed some deficiencies there in the past 10 days. :)

Took the day off yesterday, came back tonight with 171 laps at MAFC in two hours. Nice run. Happy with it. Even happier with where my life is right now. All is good at Casa SP.

Started too late, so the last half of my 10-miler was in the dark. No lights, no reflectors, no blinkie. Dumb. Got away with it, but dumb. Run went well, though. One of those runs where you just keep chugging. Was never tempted to speed up much after doing 13 last night, so the pace stayed where it needed to be. Or almost; AHR 130. Taking GF to Fayetteville tomorrow, if her headache has subsided. She ended up leaving work early, went to the doctor and then spent some time with me. Pain eased off some, then came back with a vengeance. I ended up going over there tonight largely to comfort her.

Until run indoors at MAFC, thanks to rain. Until, in this case, being until GF called me when she got back from Little Rock with her mom. Which meant I got 7 miles done. Then we drove to Fayetteville, got her fitted for shoes at Fleet Feet (she picked the Sauconys, Asics and Mizunos being the other options), showed her my name on Senior Walk, then we came back to Fort Smith and had dinner at Taliano's. Had a really, really intense conversation. She told me some things about herself that were very, very private. They surprised me, but they didn't scare me off. 

I guess I passed the test, because a few minutes later, she told me she loved me. I really knew she did, whether she said it (or admitted it to herself) or not, but it was a thrill to hear those words again. Those words I never thought I'd hear again. She knows how I feel, too. So now everything's out in the open. Even most people at work now know about us. Most are happy; some are, it seems, a little jealous. Get over it, folks. Not going to drag me down to your level of misery.

I ran almost 4 miles up to MAFC today, meeting GF there. Ran another mile and a half without her, and 4 miles with her. Total of 9.32. Not optimal from a workout standpoint, but in spending quality time with the woman I love, perfect. She's actually in pretty good shape considering where she's coming from. Not gonna run 26.2 any time soon, but she's doing just fine, and I'm proud of what she's accomplished. Also signed her up for six months' membership to help her keep up the good work through the winter cold, spring thunderstorms and summer heat.

Ran 7.25 miles to MAFC to meet Jennifer after work, then did 4.31 miles of Gallowalking with her while I was there. Pretty much wore me out. Calves were very, very heavy by the end. Jennifer was very tired too after a stressful, emotional day, but she hung in there and got it done. I told her I was very proud of her, and I am.

Great run this morning at the WAR Room with Kathy and Mary Jo. Ran a 12-mile loop, mostly with Kathy, then after a GU and some water, headed out for another 8-mile loop. I could have kept going even farther, felt pretty good, but I figured 20 miles was enough. As usual lately, I spent a lot of time thinking about Jennifer, and I found that kept me going. Legs felt heavy and all that stuff, but I was able to maintain pace and even pick it up some in the last few miles. I ran the last three miles at about 9:10 pace after various speeds higher in the 9 range. Finished the 20 in 3:11.56, which I would be happy with for the last 20 before a marathon, never mind just a routine run in January.

 So this puts me at almost 71 miles for the week -- and I skipped Sunday. Nine-plus tomorrow would put me at 80 for the Monday-Sunday period. Not a bad week. I think Jen has provided more than a little inspiration. 

Then, on top of that, I went with Jen on her four-miler this evening. No running, just brisk walking, but still a four-mile workout that took more than an hour. So I'm logging that too. 

Two runs today -- 7.29 with Rose and Mary Jo at Chaffee, and 5.97 at MAFC by myself and with Jennifer. Got me up to 88 miles for the week. I can tell I've done a lot of mileage, but no pain, just tired. Not my mileage PR either; I did 92 once. But it's a really good week. Figured out it took at least 14.5 hours to do that many miles. About 8% of my week. Not that much, really. I could easily have spent that much time watching TV, or playing Bejeweled on FB (come to think of it, maybe I did spend 14 hours playing Bejeweled). I'm being careful about it -- keep the pace slow, listen to my body if it squawks, and back off this week to allow recovery.

Again two recovery runs today: 5 this morning to SHS and back, 4.25 with Jen at Creekmore Park. Slow, slow, slow. Legs still feel heavy and tired, which makes sense after 88 last week, but got through both runs OK with no issues. Jen did her run fartlek-style -- run when she wanted, walk when she wanted -- and seemed to get stronger as the run went on, although she was glad when I told her she was done. She never wants to know how much she has left to do until it's done for some reason. Me, I want to know, to get that adrenaline surge of gutting out the last two reps or the last mile. She's the opposite. OK, I can handle that. 

Also ordered a Valentine's Day present for Jennifer today (if you're lurking, Jen, I'm not going to give you any hints). 

Work tonight, then off tomorrow to take Jennifer to Fayetteville, Bordino's, and the Hog game. Probably will get in a morning ROUD. Eleven would get me to 275 for January, which would be a nice start to 2012 (and 54 miles over my monthly target). 

Pushed the pace today, mainly because I was running behind before dinner/hoops date with Jennifer. Got faster and faster; last mile and change was about at 8:20 pace. Felt good to run fast again. I felt pretty strong.

Easy 10, some of it in the rain. Seem to have recovered from weekend frivolity (49 miles in three days) with no ill effects.

Double today at MAFC -- 4 miles by myself, 4 with Jen. She really didn't want to be out there; she felt bad, her knee hurt, she was in a bad mood, but she persevered and got through in 57 minutes and change, with me as the pacer on the running portions. I told her I was proud of her for toughing it out, and I wasn't kidding. Half the battle is showing up, the other half is sticking it out when you don't feel like it. She did both today. I'm kinda dragging too, but got the 8 done. If I did 8 tomorrow and Sunday, that would be 55 for the week, which IIRC would be my highest total during a work week at Sparks.

Easy 9+ at Chaffee with Lionel. At least most of it was easy. At the end, felt pretty good, and I hadn't put the hammer down in a while, so I did. Last half-mile was sub-7:15. I kept accelerating, trying to drop Lionel, and he wouldn't drop -- and he still had six more miles to do! It was cool, fairly windy, and I'm pretty sure the temp went down a few degrees during the run, but all in all pretty comfortable. I think the mitochondria may be there for me now; it wasn't that much of a strain to hammer that last half mile after doing 9 already. We'll see how I do in a race, if I can ever find one on a day I'm not working,. May wind up running the Trinity 5K on the 25th just for S&G.

Ran with Jen on her Texas Road course, which I discovered crosses into Oklahoma. It was cold and blustery, but OK.

Afternoon, 70 laps at MAFC, with and without Jen. That after a morning highlighted by a sore back and a headache. Felt about 81, not 51. But better by the afternoon after a nap, and she wanted me to join her at the gym. So, as usual, I got there early and got a couple of miles in before she arrived. She was having a running text battle with her mom for the whole workout. Then she shut down to go try a water aerobics class, and I headed home to rest up for...

 Speed work at Southside. Having decided to enter the 5K in Russellville Saturday morning, thought now would be a good time to actually try to run fast. Plan was for 5 X 800 at 5K pace. I actually got to goal 5k pace on the last rep, so guess I didn't over do it. With warm/cool, including some extra jogging with Rose and Mary Jo, wound up with a good 6-mile workout. Temp was about 45, no wind, a little chilly for singlet and shorts but certainly overheating was not going to be an issue. No idea what that means for Saturday; I guess I'll try to go out in the low 7 range, try to accelerate after I get a bit warmed up, and then try to hold on.

9:55 pace, AHR 126, two hours. Just what I wanted. Threw some extra hills into the route on 74th Street, still kept the AHR down. Now off to take Jen to the WAR meeting and meet some of the crew.

Gallowalking with Jen this morning. Thanks to the Garmin, was able to determine that we ran 2.3 at a sub-10 pace, and walked the rest. Overall average was sub-14. I think she's starting to realize that she can run farther than she had thought, and before long this run will be almost or completely non-walking.

Hoping to get in another shortie later. 

Midday run at Chaffee with Kathy. I planted the seed in her mind that she can BQ at Chicago (which she seriously can), and I'm going to coach her toward that. She's running OKC before then, but afterward, I take over. Good run. She can really push the pace even with her 4-to-1 run/walk ratio; I walked some with her and we still averaged sub-10. And BQ pace for her is 9:32. Definitely within her capabilities, even if she's not convinced yet.

Cold, blustery run/walk with Jen. She complained that the temperatures stiffened up her knee and didn't want to run much. I wanted to run to generate some heat and get out of that wind, but I stayed with her all the way. So that's my mini-taper for Russellville. We'll see how it shakes out tomorrow.

Kicked off the 2012 racing season with my return to the 5K at Russellville. Got third in AG there last year; didn't figure I'd do as well this year. I was wrong. I was 8 seconds faster and one place higher. It was colder than snap, 23 degrees, but at least it was sunny and no wind. Ran first mile in 7:18, then 7:14, then 7:18. Not quite as fast as I wanted, but consistent. Felt strong, so I probably could have pushed harder than I did. But I'm happy with this time in this weather (wearing tights) and very little speed work.

Indoors at MAFC -- seven miles alone, one with Jen. She shut it down after one because her left knee really hurts. I'm afraid she's done some cartilage damage, but I'm not going to tell her that. But I think I've convinced her to give it a few days and let it heal. Hopefully I'm wrong, it's just some irritation and will go away with time.

Easy 10 this morning before Valentine's Day lunch with Jennifer, and other related activities. I was pretty tight and sore for the first 4; things kinda shook loose on the downhill on Old Greenwood. Then I got into a rhythm and just kept going, all the way down Phoenix to Massard, then back home up Rogers. 

Tomorrow will be kind of easy, prior to the Hadd test on Thursday. 

Hadd test today at Southside. Couldn't do it exactly like I did the first time; the heart rate monitor took five full laps to lock in, so the first rep wasn't going to be worth much. Thus, I started my first rep at that five-lap point and ran six more laps. Then I did a five-lap cooldown afterward, to total 10 miles for the day.

Each rep was faster than the corresponding rep from the test on Dec. 30; some were a lot faster, some a few seconds. But even the least improvement was 9 seconds, or 6 seconds a mile. Six seconds a mile is a lot; it would be almost three minutes in a marathon. I'm pretty sure I pushed the last rep harder than I pushed the 5K last Saturday. Do another one in five weeks and see where that shows me, then get ready for the half in Bentonville.

Tomorrow I'm supposed to run 12 or so at WAR with Staci. Not sure how that's going to work after a hard 10 today, but maybe it'll be OK. My noon date in Fayetteville has been postponed, so that's good; I can take a nap after the run instead of driving up there. I may need that nap; we're getting absolutely crushed at work and I'll have to stay later than usual.

Just checking in. Won't run today, most likely won't run all week. I managed to get the double whammy of influenza A, and pneumonia on top of it. At least that's what Dr. Shipley says. She put me on Tamiflu, a Z-pak and gave me a (quite painful) Rocephin shot in the butt. Plus told me to take plenty of Vitamin C and zinc, all of which I have done and am doing. She also told me not to go back to work until I finish the Tamiflu, which will be Saturday. Fortunately, that's when I'm supposed to return to work. I'd like to go back to work and get that day's pay, but don't know yet if I'll feel like it.

I've been miserable. Fever, productive cough, headache, muscle aches, diarrhea, etc., etc. Jennifer won't come over, and I don't blame her. I wouldn't wish this on most people (although I can think of a few in Alabama or Central Texas that it would suit). Going to the basketball game tomorrow is pretty questionable too. We'll see how I feel tomorrow afternoon.

Running will wait until next week. It's a setback in my basebuilding, but that's all it is. Glad I didn't get sick like this last February with Boston looming. I have time to catch up before Stockholm, never mind Indy. Also will make hitting my mileage goals more difficult. But I can't blame running for this illness; that goes to my place of employment. Hospitals are wonderful places to get sick, and I did. Surprised it's taken me this long to catch something with what I do, even as often as I wash my hands. Next year, I get the flu shot for sure.

First run in two weeks after recovery from flu/pneumonia. Breathing was OK. Left knee, not do much; felt like patella tendon not happy. Got through it, slowly, in about 10:20 average. Probably will take a week to get back in the swing, then try to do something race-specific for the half in Bentonville for about two weeks.

Then Jen wanted me to run at the gym with her, so I did. Very slow, very easy. She did four laps without stopping, which is real progress. Total of 3.17 this afternoon. Nothing like not running for two weeks, then doing a double... 

Another easy run, legs a little stronger than yesterday. Able to negative split and get the average pace down to 10:00. AHR still running high, whether because of being sick or warmer temps, do not know.

Left the house at 5:15 intending to run by the Women Can Run clinic and check on them (particularly Jen). I did that, but I wound up participating in the clinic, helping with the Advanced group. Rachel planned a timed mile for that group as a baseline. I figured I'd run with the fastest woman as a pacer/cheerleader on the timed mile. Except that one woman named Jenna blasted out of there and seriously, seriously chicked me. I ran 7:44, which wasn't bad after a 6-mile warmup, but I promise she went sub 7, maybe 6:30

But I got to run with Jen some too. She was disappointed that they didn't run enough, but Rose wasn't there to lead them due to having run the marathon in LR yesterday. I told her Rose will kick her butt. Actually, I think Rose will be the group leader for their Thursday runs at Chaffee, so the buttkicking should commence then.

Jen is concerned that I'm running too much, too soon after being sick. I feel fine, the legs are coming around, 10:00 pace is not too difficult (neither was 7:44 pace, really). The AHR is still a little higher than I'd like, but that will come back as I get back in better shape, Now will I be ready to run a good half in Bentonville? I have no idea. I'll plan a speed work session next week to give me a better idea. I'd need to duplicate what I did tonight X 13, plus speed up 15 seconds a mile, to run my goal time. We'll see if I can. I doubt it, really, but we'll see.

Anyway, with the 4.9 to get there and then running at the clinic, I wound up doing 7.5. I was going to run home from the clinic too, but I didn't have reflectors or a light, and Jen wisely decided she would drive me home. I didn't argue with her. 

Late afternoon run after sleeping until 10. Did Free Ferry/Old Greenwood, Phoenix/Leigh/Cliff and home from there. Started out at 10:30 pace, wound up with 9:57 average, so I must have put the hammer down once I got up the hill on Leigh. Didn't wear the HRM, so no heart rate figures, but felt pretty comfortable. /First 10-miler since I got sick.

Run at Chaffee with Kathy Langford. Didn't feel greast, but got through OK.

Indoor run at MAFC, since it's over 80 already. I'd planned to do 7 or until they called or work. I got a call, all right, but it was Jennifer. Decided I'd rather do what she wanted me to do than to run, so I bailed after 34 laps. Not feeling great, but then I have been sleeping rather poorly.

Outdoor run today on the Cliff Drive loop. Hot, humid, miserable, slow. I really do not feel good. No energy at all, for anything. I'm finally going to break down and schedule a doctor's appointment to get checked out. Am I anemic, low T, B-12, lingering effects of pneumonia? And then there are the issues Jen is finding, which may also be related. Or maybe I've just hit a wall and need a long break. We'll see what I find out.

Ran/walked 2 with Jen, shortly before she decided to check into Vista to get her meds fixed.

A double that wasn't supposed to be a double. Started out on a planned 8 at MAFC, but Jen called at 3:25. She needed something brought to her at Vista, and it was either get it there by 4 or not until Tuesday. Fortunately, I already had it in my car. So I changed clothes without showering, drove to Vista, got there at 3:55, gave her the stuff, got a hug and a kiss, left, went back to the gym, changed back, and finished my 8-miler. Felt better afterward than I have in a while, which may have as much to do with 68 degrees and low humidity inside as anything. It's gonna be a long hot summer. Already a hot spring, and spring hasn't even started yet. I think it got to 87 yesterday.

Another indoor run, as thunderstorms moved through. About 9:25 pace overall, faster as I went on, as usual. Took a while to loosen up after Sunday's 8 miler, but felt OK when it was over. A full night's sleep made a big difference. Still going to the doctor tomorrow to get some things checked though.

Another sushi on the SHS loop, a little quicker than I've been going. Dodged a few raindrops, again.

Gr8 at the track after visiting Jen in the hospital tonight. She should come home Friday (crossing fingers). Hadn't seen her in four days, and realized how much I'd missed her. She's better than I deserve, but who am I to argue?

Anyway, back to the run. Decided to shake things up with some surges; two laps per mile once I got warmed up. Surges were at about 10K pace, I guess. It feels like I'm getting my mojo back after the pneumonia and all. I'd be in trouble if I were running Boston this year, but I'm not.

Eight days now to the half in Bentonville. Obviously in no shape to really race it, although I'd thought about giving it a try anyway. But Rose has asked me to pace her for a 2:00 run, which is low-9 pace, and I figure I might be able to handle that, so I agreed. Probably smarter to do that than to bust it trying and failing to go sub 1:40. Especially since we'll be going directly to Tulsa from Bentonville.

Ok, so I cheated. This was really 7.5 on the bike. But since there were a whole lot of uphills, and the derailleur doesn't work right, it was about as hard as a run.

Pushed a ~10K hard at MAFC this afternoon, despite about 45 minutes of sleep total. Ran the first 27 laps in low-8 pace, just about MP, ran everything else sub 9. Good trial run for pacing Rose at 2:00 pace in Bentonville. Now if I can just get some sleep...

This was supposed to be a race report. I lined up, and I started, but I neither raced nor finished. The left leg went numb in the first four miles, and I bailed. Didn't want to run 9 miles on a dead leg and possibly do more damage. Plus I was at the southern end of the race course, closest to my hotel. I had my phone with me, and called Jen to come pick me up. But by the time she found me, I'd jogged another two miles in the general direction of the hotel.

Run wasn't going well even before the numbness. I'd planned to pace Rose at sub-9 speed. Never found her before the start (she didn't have her phone), so decided to drop back in the pack, run a little faster than that pace and hope to catch her eventually. Dunno if that would have worked. For three miles, that 8:45 pace felt OK. But it was warm (it would get to almost 90 degrees), sunny and humid, and I was starting to feel the heat even before the leg went. The quads felt a little weak along with the numbness, which was concerning and definitely contributed to my decision to bail. I didn't want to hurt my knee or something because the quads wouldn't adequately support it.

Did 10 today at MAFC at just about 9:00 pace. I was cruising along, could have done another 3 or so easily, but decided I needed to check my phone. Sure enough, something there that needed my attention. Actually, that was the case twice. I ran 4 miles, checked it, needed to leave, came back an hour or so later and did the other 6. Both at ~9:00. Legs felt fine. No aftereffects at all from Saturday's numbness. I think I could have finished 13.1 in under two hours no problem, since I did 10.03 in 90:36 and had plenty left.

 Having a little relationship blip otherwise. That's the thing that needed my attention at that moment. 

Cruised 8 at MAFC in sub-9 pace. That's feeling pretty comfortable right now, which is good.

Leg went numb. Again.

Leg didn't go numb. Comfortable <9:25 pace, not a bad day to run. We'll see if I can do another 8 tomorrow morning with the WAR crew.

Did 10+ this morning with Kathy, Staci and Lalita. They kept me slow enough that it was comfortable. No numbness.

Some personal stuff going on with Jennifer that is concerning. She's not handling some things in her life and in her head well, and she doesn't want me to help. I just have to step back and let her process this stuff. And I may not like how things shake out after the processing is over. But I have to accept that and go on. I hope that I will go on with her, but that may not be the case.

Eight miles progression at MAFC. Last one was pretty much MP, or what passes for my MP right now. No numbness, which is good. No resolution of anything with Jen, which isn't.

Inside at MAFC as it rained, then the sun came out. Forgot my watch, but I think I was running about 9:30 pace. Leg started to go numb, then I went up on my toes and it eased off. I'll have to remember that for future reference. Don't know why that would make any difference, but it seemed to matter.

Took yesterday off. Actually got off work in time to do 4 or so in the gym after work, but I was too tired. I was in bed shortly after getting home.

Jen seems to be working through her issues. Whether life after the issues includes me, remains to be seen. I hope so, and she is still giving me some reason for hope.

Biggest scare of my life this afternoon, involving Jen. I really thought she was dead. Thank God, she isn't, and physically she'll be fine. But obviously running was the furthest thing from my mind today. Getting her well, where this never happens again, is my one and only concern. Running... doesn't matter right now. If I can't run at Stockholm, or Indy, big deal. I'll just take the trip, jog 5K and drop out, or whatever. It'll make the flight home a lot easier. 

But what today drove home to me, more so than ever, is how much I love her. I cannot imagine losing her ... except that I was imagining it like crazy for a few frantic minutes. I want her in my life now and forever. Whatever that takes, whatever I have to do, whatever I need to give up, is okay with me. 

Spent most of the day with Jen, first at Sparks, then at Springwoods. I'll go back to see her tomorrow afternoon there. I know she's going to fight it; she always does. She already told me to get her out of there. I'm not opposed to a transfer down the road, but I told her to give it a chance. She's upset because of something some nurse told her. I said wait until the doctor tells you that, then get upset. Or make your case to him why he shouldn't do that. But the important thing is that she get well. Whatever makes that happen, I'm all for it.

Will I run tonight? Maybe, just for stress reduction. Maybe some laps at SHS. 

Run with Kathy, Heather and Staci at Chaffee. Went better than I suspected; I was actually able to put on a big of a kick. Kathy maintained BQ pace for the first 8+ until she shut it down, which I made sure I pointed out to her.

Then I went to Red-White with Pupe and Scott, then to visit Jen. Long, stressful day.

Another visit to Jen today, this time taking Todd with me. Janis and Alicia were there too, so we had to take turns a bit. She's gonna fight this, no doubt. Hasn't seen the doc yet in 48+ hours. Before that, 106 lovely laps at MAFC at a decent pace.

I'd planned to run before work today, but got really, really nauseated around lunch. By the time that subsided, we were hiring a new football coach. Then the early call to work. So no run.

Another run at MAFC, this time 10 miles plus a lap (forgot to click one lap in the final mile). Figured it might be an until run, and that was about right. I got called while I was getting ready for the post-run shower. Maintained low-9 pace for 8 miles, then put the hammer down for the last 2+. Actually felt fairly comfortable at that pace.

Jen is upset that the doctor wants to change all her meds. I understand some of her concern, but it's not like the other meds were working all that well; that's why she's there now. Anyway, looks like her discharge will be delayed a while while meds adjusted. Which is probably just as well.

This time next week, I'll be driving back from South Carolina with T. He told me today he thinks he'll take some core classes at UAFS this fall instead of going back to UA. Might not be a bad idea, and it will be cheaper, since he can live at home. Then go back to UA in the spring.

Easy 7 at MAFC before work. Loosened up OK after the first 3. I think I averaged about 9:20 overall. Then I found out a few minutes later that Jen was out of the hospital and already back in town, which was a relief. That'll cut my stress level way down right there.

Easy 4 on the dreadmill at my hotel in North Charleston, SC. No fan, not much air conditioning, and good old Low Country humidity, so it was miserable. Shut it down after 4 rather than struggle for another 20 minutes.

T went to his doctor visit, which went well, and he was released to walk without his boot (although he's been doing it). Then lunch with Pam, Tom and Tom's son, which was less awkward than I feared. Then we hit the road -- Columbia, Augusta, Atlanta, dinner in the suburbs with Peggy, then to Chattanooga for the night. Got there 9ish, so not too bad, about six hours drive in the books. Not quite halfway, in other words.

No run today. Spent the day in the car, pretty much. Left Chattanooga, went through Nashville, down to Memphis, back to LR to collect my car, then T and I both went to Bryant to see the folks. Neither one of us had seen Mumber since about Christmas. Dinner with them, then I headed back. Even got in some quality time with Jen, which was nice and not entirely expected. She's slowly getting back to her old self.

Very nice day, spent largely reconnecting with Jen. A lot of stuff has gone on in the last month or so, and a lot of it has tended to push us apart. Today, we got closer. She was supposed to start therapy this afternoon, but the therapist changed her appointment to Friday and left Jen a VM, which she never checks. So we showed up to find nothing. I called the therapist and got the word after the fact. Jen and I basically spent all afternoon together, even including the abortive trip to the therapist, and I could stand to have a few more afternoons like this one. It was the kind of day you might daydream about in a relationship, and then tell yourself, "nah, can't happen." But it did.

Late night last night with Jen, up by 10, over to her house in early afternoon, then ran at the gym at 3:20 (at which point it was 88 and rising outside). Not a real comfortable 6, but got it done. I've got 10 weeks to Stockholm. Time to get some running done. I know I'm not going to run very fast, but I need enough mileage to at least jog it without undue distress. Maybe this week I can get the miles in along with work.

Back in the saddle at MAFC. Actually felt pretty good. Fitness has held on nicely for as little as I've been running lately.

Hadn't expected to run today, but Jen asked me to run with her in the Women Can Run 5K at Conway. So I did. It was cool but humid, threatening to rain but didn't. Jen did very well considering her lack of training over the last few weeks (for very understandable reasons). She finished in 41:34, and really ran a lot more than I had thought she would. As for me, an easy jog, although running at 13+ pace can be tougher than it sounds. Also my first bandited race. I did not use any resources at all, no water, no portapotty, no nothing. A guy that I semi-recognized was pacing the 13:00 pace group, and he called me out by name. I know I've seen him before, but where, I have no idea. Maybe at Toad Suck.

When we were actually running, we were probably at a low-10 pace. We ran into Lorna and a few other FS runners too, easy to spot in teal shirts (which Jen did not have). So she's finished her first race, didn't wind up in the hospital, and maybe now can do some decent running through the summer and fall.

Very sweaty 4 with Kathy in 90-degree weather. She still wants me to coach her for Chicago, and her training plan starts Sunday for that. Lots of questions, as always, but that's fine. As long as I have reasonable answers, and so far, I do. Have about eight weeks to get my butt in gear for Stockholm.

Indoor until run at MAFC. Got called after 2, ran another mile before showering. First time I've run two straight days in a while. We'll see if I can make it three straight on Sunday. That one will be an until run too.

Another until run at MAFC, while Jen is busy moving into her new place. In this case, got five miles done until they called to notify me of a patient being moved to ICU by a consultant. Could have kept going, I suppose, but decided that was a good time to shut down. Three days in a row, 12ish miles. Lot better than I've been doing lately, although nowhere near where I need to be in eight weeks.

Another until run at MAFC. Got five done before getting called, first by Jen, then by work. Unfortunately, second call took precedence. But Jen had stuff to do this afternoon anyway, so might not have been much fun. All I can say at this point is that I can handle an easy 5-miler without much trouble. How that will translate in Sweden in a few weeks, hard to say.

Sevenish, exact distance unknown, with Cedric and Peter at Toronto. Garmin didn't lock in. It was hot, though. About 80, bright sun. At least a bit of breeze off the water.

First 12-miler for me since February. Early February. Did 159 laps at MAFC. On the bright side, it wasn't too difficult, although I'm sure I'll pay for it tomorrow. On the other hand, my May TOTAL was 41 miles. That used to be a lackluster week, or tapering, one of the two. I'm supposed to run 26.2 in 43 days. We'll see how that works. But at least I have six weeks to get back some of my fitness. Won't be able to do anything resembling running hard, but maybe sub 4:15 is conceivable.

Until run during work.

Ran for an hour, slowly, at MAFC.

9:03 pace indoors at MAFC, decent progression. Actually felt like I have some fitness.

Easy 8 at Chaffee. Probably around 70 at the start, felt warmer due to bright sunshine. Ran with a young man probably 36 years younger than me. Didn't talk much, but nice to have some company. Did 9 minutes run, 1 walk, and still finished with just over 10:00 pace; picked it up at the end and the young'un was struggling a bit to keep up :)

Easy 4 at MAFC, including a mile of Gallowalking with Jen, then put the hammer down for the last mile. Not because that was in the plan, but because I got tired of getting lapped by two young women who seemed to be running about 8:00 pace -- and were running in the inside lanes. Had enough of that, so I pushed the last mile. It was Jen's first run since the 5K 5.5 weeks ago. She did OK, one lap run, one walk, for a mile, stopped because transactions interfered. I kept going for three more miles, having run a mile before she arrived. Hopefully will feel like doing 14 or so tomorrow, something resembling a long run 31 days before Stockholm.

Tried a long run. Should have eaten breakfast first. Thus bonked. Legs weren't real happy even before the bonk, which wasn't a big surprise given my lack of running in general and double-digit runs in particular. Got it done in 2:45, though.

Took a few days off after lingering effects of cramps late in last week's 15-miler. Finally felt like running today, and did 84 laps at MAFC. No problems in the cramp area, fortunately. Probably will try to do a bunch of 6-milers this week, then another long run early next week.

After 84 laps yesterday, 80 more today, actually slightly faster overall. I'm just trying to have some level of overall fitness. If I have to walk some in Sweden, so be it; might actually be better considering I'll have three days of sightseeing in London after that. I was pretty stiff last night before I went to sleep, not so bad today. I'm hoping to get in 30 miles or so this week, just 5 or 6 at a time, then do a decent LR on Monday.

Stretched a 6-miler at MAFC into 8 at 9:18 average. Figured I'd get called during the run, but didn't.

Planned to do 6 or so at MAFC, but just wasn't feeling it. So when Jen called, I took the opportunity to bail. Lack of motivation? Yup. Pretty sure I'm going to back off after Stockholm and recharge the batteries, do some things other than just run.

Five miles at SHS in the dark, starting at 9:30. Think it had cooled off any? Not hardly. It was 98 when I started, maybe 96 when I finished. Lot of people out there; they were playing some kind of game on the turf with a lighted frisbee or something. Struggled a bit with the heat, but got it done.

Too tired last night after a day in the car to do my planned 5, so I made up for it today with 10 miles at MAFC. Went OK, except the leg went numb at 3.5. I walked three laps and it eased up; ran other three laps and the numbness was gone. Not sure of pace, because I intentionally left my watch in my locker. Probably went a little faster than I had planned; chased the Hispanic chick for a mile or so and tried to stay ahead of other runners later. But it went OK. Still gonna try to do 18 Saturday; we'll see how that goes.

Progression run at MAFC in the new Adizeros. I'd forgotten what having a little cushioning felt like (meaning, man, those Kinvaras were worn out). Last mile was not too much over 8:00, which right now probably constitutes a tempo run for me. Shoes were fine; maybe tiny hot spot on the ball of the right foot, but that might be due to old socks.

Slogged out 18.8 at Chaffee, mostly with Kathy and Lionel and two new people, Brenda and Richard. Started slow, got slower as the temps climbed. It went from 73 to 86 in the course of the 3.5 hours. Ran 14.9 with that group, the last four miles alone. Struggle. Can I finish 26 in 14 days? Maybe if its 30 degrees cooler, which it might be.

Hard 4 at MAFC, as close to "MP" as I can manage right now, which was right around 8:30. Closest thing to a hard run since I bailed on that half in March in Bentonville.

Decent progression run, sub 9 average at MAFC after work.

Until run at the gym, interrupted rather quickly.

Longish run at WAR with Rose, Lalita and three others. Couldn't tell it had rained yesterday, other than the humidity is up -- which is what kicked my butt after about 8 miles. Ended up doing 11.6ish in 2 hours and change, mostly walking the last three miles. Then I got called to work within two minutes of the end of the run. In 50 hours, I'll be on the plane. Wow.

Getting on the plane for Sweden in four hours. I should be excited, nervous, whatever. Instead, I'm somewhere between numb and heartbroken. Jen was arrested last night. Won't get into the details, other than to say it's something that I was afraid was going on, suspected might be going on, but didn't want to know. But it was, and she got caught redhanded with a guy she's now dating (along with me). It's a felony. She's apparently done it before. And it violates her probation, which was going to end this week. So she has royally, royally screwed up.

I'm sad because I love her. I'm angry because she is so self-destructive and made such bad decisions. I wonder if this guy influenced her to do this, or if it was her idea, maybe to attract him. And I wonder if there's anything left between us, or if I want there to be anything left. And I cringe at the thought that somehow I might get sucked into this mess somehow.

So, with all this swirling around, getting ready to go to the airport. Maybe it's good that we're getting away. Jen can't get out of jail until tomorrow anyway, after her arraignment. I can't see her until after I get back, but that was going to happen anyway.

Do I care what happens in the marathon? No. Is a DNF a possibility? Yep. As is a DNS. I'll just have to see where my mind is Saturday morning. And how much sleep I'm able to get, too. 

My first ever run in Europe. From the hotel to the stadium, two laps on the track, then a short loop on the trails in the forest behind the stadium before back to the hotel. It's beautiful in the forest. Thom says if you wished, you could do a 40-mile trail run back there without any duplications, just keep going and going. It would be a hilly 40 though, and enough rocks and roots to keep you paying attention.

Wow. Just wow. That was HARD. My slowest marathon ever. I knew I was out of shape, but this was ridiculous. As is frequently the case, if I'd had any sense I would have bailed out, but I have no sense. Or I'm just too stubborn to quit. Started out trying to run 6:00/km, which worked for 10K. After that, a death march, with a whole lot of marching. I seriously thought I was going to go over 5 hours even for the 1912 distance, and I certainly would have been over 5 if I'd done the extra 2K loop to get to 26.2.

We got a break on the weather -- 65ish, but overcast and a hint of breeze. A lot of sun would have been even worse. I drank a lot, ate a lot, took my electrolytes, but the leg muscles just were not in shape for 26.2 at any pace no matter how well I fueled and hydrated. Which I knew going in; I wasn't under any illusions about my fitness. The goal was to slog through it. I hoped I would run slow enough that the legs could handle it. I don't think that was possible, though. Never went into fullblown cramps, but first hip flexors and then calves felt like they were going to explode. I had to suck it up just to run the last 2K without stopping

Jogged through central London to get somewhere in a hurry. Legs felt surprisingly good.

Jogged from restaurant to hotel and back to do an emergency currency exchange after the travelex had closed. Legs still felt ok. We had just gotten back from Stonehenge and stopped on the walk back to the hotel to eat, and the restaurant's computer didn't like my credit card. But all debts satisfied, didn't have to wash any dishes.

After three weeks with zero running, but a whole lot of work, stress and craziness, finally got on the roads again, inspired by a new friend named Heather, who I happen to be dating now (long, long, long story, which I do not want to recount here). Heather is in great shape and does something called a boot camp workout to stay that way. I figured I had to get off my keister and get back at it to stay with her. Took me a while to get loosened on my laps around MAFC (it was cooler today, but that's because it was thunderstorming), but that's not exactly a surprise. For the first run in 22 days, it went OK.

And I did some upper body work too. Need to work on that, need to work on glutes and hammies too, along with running. I think that will be my fitness goal for the next few months, to kinda reshape this body a bit.

I continue to be amazed that attractive women want to go out with me, but I'm learning to go with it -- and to give them the chance to say no. You do that, sometimes they say yes. Heather did, without hesitation. 

Slow, easy fish up to SHS this morning. Temp was about 69 when I started, and it felt nice. Not quite as cool as Stockholm or London, but very nice, even with bright sun. Kept the pace 10:30ish and had no problems with that, especially after two miles when I got loose. We'll see if I feel up to going out to Chaffee tomorrow, but this one went well.

Really slow run at Chaffee with Kathy, Martha and (occasionally) Rose. Several degrees warmer today due to overnight cloud cover, more humid, and I can absolutely tell the difference. I can also tell how far my conditioning has slipped. I can get it back, but it definitely has fallen off sharply.

Another 10-day lull thanks to work and tendinitis in my foot. Finally got over to MAFC today for a slow fish, followed by some weight work. Not sure why I'm bothering at this point. My motivation for life in general, never mind fitness, is sadly lacking. Although the fitness work may go back to being my survival mechanism sooner than I would like to think about. Suffice it to say, not a happy camper today.

Slow, easy run with Rose, Kathy and Joey. Still a little stiff from Wednesday's 5, but got it done.

Humid 7 with Kathy, Sheri and Rachel. Slogged through it, but it was a struggle. It was teetering on the edge of raining but never did.

After 12 days off (10 of which I worked), and probably five pounds added, back at it at MAFC. Slow 4. Legs felt very fatigued, like I'd just run 15 yesterday or something. But I got it done.

Ah, finally a hint of fall, after a big thunderstorm last night. Mid-60s for the run; felt a lot like Stockholm. Joined the WAR ladies at Marketplace. They were doing 15+, I wasn't going anywhere near that far. So I ran about 4 with them, turned around and retraced my steps with a detour or two to get up to 8. Legs were still stiff like yesterday, and the girls' 11:00 pace was a relief. So much so that when I turned around, I maintained the same pace. Baby steps, Jeffrey, baby steps.  Gotta get back in shape, just like you did in '07.

Wells Lake loop with Kathy and Staci. Started at 11:30 and it was already 80 degrees and climbing, so a little more challenging from that standpoint than I would have preferred. But I got 6.75 done without too much trouble. Foot is still bothersome, legs act like they don't want to move at anything faster than 10:00 pace. But I have to get back in shape. I need the stress reduction, I need to lose weight, and I need the cheap therapy until my life settles down. Whenever that is.

Five after work at MAFC (haven't done THAT in a long time!). Pushed the pace more than usual.

Morning run with Kathy from Marketplace. Neither one of us felt like going very far, so we cut our planned run in half, basically. Spitting rain, very humid. I was still quite sore from pushing the pace on the indoor run Wednesday night.

Thought I was meeting Kathy and others at WAR this morning. They were out there, all right, but started from Wells Lake, as I discovered when I got over there. That's OK. Settled in at a comfortable plod (10:30ish), then managed to pick it up for the last mile or so. About as long as I've gone in a while with zero walking. Still very humid, although no rain (yet). Now shower, nap, drive to Fayetteville and hope we don't get absolutely crushed.

With everything else going on in my life, right now I think running, as so often in the past, is going to be my therapy, and I'm going to rely on it more and more as the weather cools. Plus I have these 10 pounds I need to lose... 

Sorta followed the Survivors Challenge 10K course with Kathy this afternoon. It was a struggle to keep up with her at 10:00 pace, then my left leg went numb as I went up the hill on Hendricks just off Country Club. It came back eventually, but in the meantime Kathy left me, even though I kept running on the numb leg. I guess I didn't really need to drop out at Bentonville, but I couldn't run fast, which is why I was there.

Have a running date Wednesday with Heidi, who I sorta met at Vicki's birthday party last night. Young, attractive, runs -- what's not to like? ;) We'll see how -- or if -- this works out. I know better than to get too optimistic, but hey, I'm giving myself a chance anyway. 

Another midday run with Kathy. We met at Hobby Lobby, and I ran to and from HL, so I did about 1.7 more than she did. Again right around 10:00 pace, which seems to be what I can handle given the current temperature. Maybe I'll get a bit faster as the temperature cools, independent of getting in better shape. Still on to run with Heidi tomorrow. Keeping fingers crossed...

Kathy's trying to get me to pick/enter a late winter marathon. She's going to Phoenix. I just don't like the idea of a RnR race, but we'll see if I can come up with something better.

Met Heidi and her friend Audrey at Golden Living for a late morning 3.6-mile run through Fianna Hills. Which wasn't too awfully hilly; one big downhill and then made it up at the end. Enjoyed the run and especially the company. I think there will be future meetings with Heidi; running shoes won't always be involved <thumbs up>. Legs are starting to come around. The tendinitis is still there, but not getting any worse, and I can deal with it.

Passed on 5:15 run with Sheri for 8:15 run with Kathy. Ran for an hour, a smidge over 6 miles, fairly comfortable pace. Warmer than I would like, but a bit of a breeze, so not too bad. I'm trying to get over 1000 miles for the year by month's end, then maybe get to 1400 for the year. We'll see how that works out. Probably will work about like my love life is working out :(

Twelve low and slow with Tammy and Sherri. It's my first 12 miler since Stockholm, which was 10 weeks ago today. The 4-1 pattern worked nicely, and they forced me to keep my pace down and not overdo it. Weather was great, even a bit chilly on the back side of the Ben Geren golf course. Started at probably 5:30, finished a little before 8. Now chocolate milk, shower, nap, go to the Razorback game.

Don't remember much about this run except that I did it. Joined Sheri, Heidi, Ronda, Kathy and Rachel S. into Ben Geren, then returned to start with Kathy. Total of 41 for the week,

Two days off for work, so got myself back out on my own before work. Very humid. Did the SHS loop, exactly 5 miles.

Out dark and early from Marketplace with Kathy and (briefly) Cindy. Looped around until Kathy got home, then ran the last four miles on my own, progression style. Wound up with probably a 9:45 average, correcting for failing to stop my watch while I talked toKathy outside her house. Looking like I'll get to 100 miles this month, if not 1000 for the year (yet). Now a nap before work.

Run in the rain with some of the WAR ladies, at least for 4.5 before I peeled off and went back to the car. Went OK. Lack of sleep is catching me for sure. Visiting Jen today, we'll see how that goes.

Progression run after work. Original plan was to get in a couple of miles to get to 100 for the month, pure OCD round number stuff. But I got out, felt pretty good, weather was reasonably cool, and I altered the course and kept going. Ended up with 6.62. Wanted to make sure I finished 10K in less than an hour, and topped that by 34 seconds, then did the last 0.4 in 3.5 minutes. Not burning fast, but faster than I've been running. Kinda set me up for speed work tomorrow.

First "speed work" in almost a year, even if it consisted of 800s at what used to be MP. Wasn't sure I could manage even that, with 10 extra pounds and nothing resembling speed work since November, but it went well. Ran with Brenda Hook and another Brenda, who was faster than (the current) me, if maybe not the me of 18 months ago.

Kinda pushed it at MAFC today, in part to keep the chica from lapping me. But it actually felt pretty comfortable. I have a new form thought, to drive my knees through instead of dead-leg swinging, Rex style, and that helped to pick up the pace right there. Then when chica came up past me, I said to myself "heck no" and picked it up some more to keep up and later pass. Then just kept it going. Wound up with sub-9 pace for 80 laps. Also now within range of 1000 for the year.

Out in 50ish weather (yay!) in later afternoon for 9ish to take me over 1000 for the year. It rained all morning and was still very humid, so I worked up quite a sweat, but not what I would have 20 degrees ago. Lots of hills on the route, which the legs handled OK. I guess I'm getting back in shape, even if the love handles don't show it yet. It's my fifth straight year of 1000 plus. So I got that going for me.

Indoors at MAFC after the Hog game. Could have run outdoors, but yesterday gave me the sniffles and I don't need to be getting sick now, and it's even cooler today than yesterday. So I chose 68 degrees over 55. I definitely needed to get the kinks worked out of my legs too, so the run was needed. Helped that we finally played well on both sides of the ball.

Good 13 with Kathy M., Lalita and Kay (dunno last name) at Ben Geren. Pushed Kathy to run faster than her mental block allowed which is good. Also found a partner for RVR -- Kathy, who is looking for something else besides teaching high school English. This will definitely be worth exploring. Run went well, took me up to 38 for the week, which except for that one week in June is as much as I've done in a long time. Temps were high 30s at the start, maybe mid 40s at the finish, felt really good. Shorts and long sleeve was plenty.

Progression run at MAFC after work. Decided to stretch a fish into a 50-minute run. Finished the 73rd lap in 49:58, figured that was close enough. Legs felt really good. Left trapezius still doesn't for some reason. I did some shoulder shrugs, curls and triceps work after the run to try to work some of that out. We'll see if it helps.

 I need another 375 miles in the next 12 weeks to get to my secondary mileage goal of 1400. That's 31ish a week. Doable. Hope I don't need to load up with 70 mile weeks in December to get there. Doing 38 a week would get me to 1500. Maybe. We'll see. 

Up at the crack o' chickens for 10K along Phoenix. Knew how far I was running, so didn't look at the watch and just cruised. Cruising turned out to be a 9:31 average and a one-minute negative split. Felt pretty good, especially only 8 hours after my last run ended. Guess the legs are finally coming around. Now if the insomnia would come around...

Took three days off because I screwed up my left arm and shoulder lifting weights the other night, and it's not letting me sleep. But I actually slept well last night, with a little chemical encouragement, and got up at 5 to run. Did 8, slowly going out, accelerating coming back. Arm didn't hurt much then, but it does now (typing seems to irritate it). So I'll quit typing...

Mile reps at Ramsey at 7:30 pace with Rose, Lionel, Kay and Brenda R. Brenda is a good partner for reps basically because she's faster than I am. She keeps up with me running in lane 3 or 4. Rose is too hyper; she can't stay down at the right pace. But I got through it OK, held the pace I wanted without too much trouble,

Good, solid predawn progression run. Thought the gang would be running from Marketplace, but they weren't, so I went solo. That's OK. Very slow for the first half, like 10:26, then negative split 2+ minutes on the return. Not bad for less than 12 hours after I finished the tempo work at the track last night. Now back to bed.

Slow and easy (but sweaty) to and from SHS. 70ish and kinda humid. Maybe it will turn to fall eventually... Working tomorrow to pick up a few extra bux, but might get in a shortie after work.

Easy run with accelerations and strides, trying to sharpen up for the 10K tomorrow.

Second mile up Old Greenwood really, really sucked. Other than that, I did OK, although it felt like I really didn't get warmed up until the 5K mark. Plan was to run with Rose. That lasted less than a half mile; she ran off and left me. Staci and Lionel did too, but I caught Staci around the 5K mark. Rose and Staci both won their AGs. I, uh, didn't, but it would have taken a 45-second PR just to get a medal, so I don't feel so bad about it. Lionel is in my AG too and he didn't get a medal either.

 I tried to go out a little conservatively, try to save some energy. I think the plan overall worked OK, except I just didn't push that second mile up the hill enough while I was still warming up. Weather was perfect -- 45, sunny, very little wind, not an issue at all. Then, at the top of the hill with my legs finally in gear, I hit the gas. Mile splits coming home per Garmin (which was reading about 2% long) were 7:51, 7:49, 7:42, and then hauled tail down the hill to the finish at 6:35 pace.

 I blame that on race rustiness. Haven't raced enough to do anything. This was my first real race since Russellville in February. Stockholm was in no way a race for me. Another 10K in Hot Springs in four weeks. Hopefully I'll be in better shape with better strategy and at least get under 48, although this HS course seems to be pretty similar as far as a long uphill to start and then downhill to the finish. I'll just have to run the uphill harder -- and smarter. 

Same distance as yesterday's rate, same negative split, 30 degrees warmer, nine minutes slower. Not bad, though. Soreness completely gone, and the pace was comfortable even as I picked it up and sweated. Some kids showed up in midrun and played lighted Frisbee or something on the field, which looked pretty interesting in the dark. I got 1.5 shifts at work thanks to Yeshu being too sick or something to round on her patients, so a pretty good slam, then a run. Got through it OK, in spite of lack of sleep (that's gonna catch up to me eventually; an hour nap here and there ain't cutting it).

Very bad day at work. Rohit blatantly crapped on me (11 admits) and gave zero to his wife. I didn't see another one of the docs all day except at lunch, and they darn sure never set foot in ER. So I unloaded on him after he gave me #11, five hours after ER called him with that patient. Then I asked Liza to move me back to nights. Request granted as of November. So I needed stress reduction when I got home. Went to SHS after eating and did five slow while the Ultimate Frisbee game went on in the dark. Still too darn warm for late October, but got through it OK, and felt better as a result. Only need 320 now for my mileage goal of 1400, with 69 days to get there. Do 64 five-milers, I'm there.

Did the flat part of Phoenix tonight from Marketplace to the overpass and back, after 11 hours of work. Felt OK, was able to negative split by a couple of minutes (temperature was quite a bit cooler on the return trip, which helped). Got over 100 miles for the month. Still on pace to get to 1400 for the year. Who knows, might get enough miles in to get to 1500.

Slow 4 at MAFC at 8 pm. I may regret this when I'm running at 8 am tomorrow....

Met Kathy M. and Kay for a beast starting at Marketplace. Took it nice and slow, which was good considering I was still feeling last night's recovery 4. But we got it done. Kay's birthday was yesterday, so we had a joint birthday donut-and-hot-chocolate party "catered" by Dunkin Donuts at Kathy's place. Met Kathy's family. They definitely like Halloween... Good run, though.

Pushed the pace tonight in the new Kinvaras after driving home from a rather disappointing game at WMS. Perfect running weather, high 40s and no wind, and I took advantage. Once I got warmed up, I was well under 9:00 for the last seven miles or so. Six tomorrow will get me to 40 for the week and a nice start to the newly revised goal of 1500 for the year; I'm now at 1110 with 65 days to go. Exactly 6 a day will get me there, and a few runs like this will build up some cushion.

Greatly enjoyed my date last night with Terrie, and we're going to the game next Saturday at RRS. Hopefully the outcome will be a little better, but the company will be fun. 

Recovery run after work. Took two miles to loosen up again, then felt pretty good for the last 4. Got me to 40+ for the week, which ain't bad for working five days and traveling the other two. Staying on track for 1500, too. Hope to get to 150 for the month. This is already the second best month for mileage this year after the 270 in January. Then I got sick, fell in love and all hell broke loose.

Woke up Monday morning with my right Achilles tender and full-feeling, just like the left one was in January 2011. So I took two days off and iced it a few times. By this morning, no pain, no fullness. So I tested it tonight at SHS. Felt OK for 25 laps. We'll see how it feels in the morning. I'm going to ice it in a few minutes as a preventive measure.

 Finished October with 141 miles, best month since January. Hope to do much better than that in November, especially if I decide to run Corndog City. 

Southside/Hardscrabble loop this morning, once I quit sneezing. Hips were a little sore after last night's progression 10K, but they loosened up in about two miles. Achilles again behaved itself with no ill effects from last night. Still gonna ice it some for prophylaxis. But I think I kinda dodged this bullet. Now will it hold up for 20 with Kathy on Sunday? Only one way to find out.

Intervals at Ben Geren. It was supposed to be 15 X 1 minute at 5K pace. Most of them were faster than that. And I felt like I was going to pass out at the end of most of them. Seriously lightheaded. Was that because I didn't eat much, or because it was 80 degrees, or what? Dunno, but I got through it without hitting the ground. Legs did fine, it was the lightheadedness that scared me.

Almost four hours at Ben Geren with Kay, Lalita and Kathy M. Glad they kept my pace slow. I don't know if I could have finished 20 if I'd kept my pace at normal levels. It hurt, and I had some chafing, but I got through with enough energy to push the last half mile or so at maybe 9:00 pace. Overall average with 4:1 Gallowalking was 11:11. It was good to have some company. Not sure I could have gotten through it solo, either. Now, nap time.

Easy 5 after work. At least the first 4.5 were easy.Then I splatted on the sidewalk by McDonald's. Note to self: sometimes the street is safer. Picked myself up and dragged home. Still just over 10:00 pace, which is what I wanted.

Out at 5:15 with the ladies. No face plant this time. Pace was a little faster than last night but still comfortable, and legs were OK considering the 10-hour double.

Leg is starting to act just a tad infected. Alissa put bacitracin on it and wrapped it. I'll give it another 24 hours of rest before I think about running again. It's a bit red and swollen with some scant serous drainage.

Road rash got infected, so I took the last five days off to let it semi-heal. Probably could have run at least a little, but it was a hard week at work, so the extra rest was nice. Got out today at Ben Geren with Kathy M, Kay and Lalita. It was breezy and spitting rain, but never rained much at all, so it will probably open up later. Also supposed to get quite cold. Run went OK, was able to pick up the pace a bit to 9:40ish.

Speed night at the track, and I found myself leading a group of maybe 6 to 8 people running 400s. Which was OK, since it forced me to slow down and not overdo it. We ran the first 7 at just under 8:00 pace, then I decided to blast the last one, and Randy McIntosh blasted it with me. I ran it in 1:35, which is the first time I've gone under 100 seconds in a long, long time. Too bad I can't run 5Ks at that pace. With warm/cool and recovery jogs, did 5+. Nice workout, but not so much that I left my race behind out there. Just sharpened up a bit for Spa.

Good run from Marketplace with the ladies.Easy 10 minute warmup, moderate for 10 minutes, push it hard for 10 minutes, then ease up back to the car. Did approximately 5 miles with 1.25 or so at pace. Temp was 29 and windless, and it felt good out there. Shorts and a long sleeved tech shirt were fine. Headband and thin gloves took care of those issues.

Nice and slow with Sherrie R. this morning from Marketplace.

Well, maybe not so easy. Sherrie once again pushed the pace early, then a bunch of us hammered it for the last half-mile or so, led by Cindy, who said she was "feelin' it." I guess she was. Tammy and I barely caught her before we got back to the car.I felt pretty bad last night, coughing and wheezing. I assume that's a result of all the drainage. I'm still draining and the chest is tight, but not like last night. Just hope I don't come down with the crud before the race -- or after, for that matter. Can't afford to get sick,.

Over the mountain at Hot Springs this morning. WEather was perfect. Run was pretty good, except that my breathing issues got me on the climb up West Mountain and I walked for 100 yards. Other than that, I would have finished with a faster time than Survivors Challenge. As it was, my challenge was that Staci passed me with a half mile to go and there was no way I was going to let her beat me. So I accelerated and wound up beating her by 12 seconds.

Went to awards (plenty for WAR but none for me), then Staci, Mary Jo and I drove back. Just enough time to change and head to Rogers for tonight's date. 

Progression run at the WAR room with Rose and Lionel. I hadn't planned to do any progressing; low and slow would have been just fine. But Rose kept getting faster, and we accelerated to keep up, and for the last mile and a half I just put the hammer down to get through. Wound up with a 9:24 average after starting out at 10:30 pace. Believe me, I could still feel West Mountain (and still can, 12 miles later).

6+ with the 5:15 gang on Phoenix. Took yesterday off with soreness and a full day of work, so this was a nice recovery run at a decent pace. Then we gabbed for a half hour afterward. Got up to 100 miles for the month with 10 days left; still will have to step it up to get to 1500 by NYE. But I should be 

Easy 5 after work. SHS was locked up, so drove back home, ran two laps around the mall and stretched it out around the neighborhood to get to 5. Ran by McDonalds for the first time since my nosedive, and darn if I didn't stumble again in almost exactly the same spot. Maintained my balance this time, though. I've concluded there are two bad seams on that sidewalk and the nighttime lighting makes them darn near invisible. I think I'll stay off that sidewalk, at least northbound at night, for a while. Anyway, up early tomorrow for 11 before work, including the Thanksgiving Day 5-miler from Maybranch. I'll run over there, do the fish, then run home.

Early 11 before breakfast. Ran over to Maybranch Square to join the fun run, did 5 with them, then ran back home. That was plenty. Glad I don't have a rounding list today so I might get a bit of a nap. Pace was 9:40ish, a little faster than I intended.

Easy 4 with Kathy L.Now off to the LSU game. Alone :(

Did the interstate run with Rose, Kay and Randy. Left the Casa, downtown, across the Garrison bridge to Mobilehoma, then retraced our steps.Had to leave them behind because I'm working 1.5 shifts today, which I learned at about 7:15. Good run. They enjoyed the course. Hilly, but not horrible, different than their usual run. Weather was cold, clear and great for running, even if I did break out the tights for the first time. As usual, thought of Jen while running by Northside.

Slow with Kathy M. and Lalita, their last "long run" before Memphis.Kathy is in fullbown taper madness, which is funny i f you know the symptoms. Legs took a while to loosen up in low-30s temps, but finally felt pretty good. Now to go to work and get slammed.

Speed work.Ran to SHS, did 3-mile tempo run at 7:40ish pace with Don Edge, then ran home, all in the dark. First tempo run in a long, long time, and it went OK. I'd planned to do up to 4 but wasn't sure I was up to it after no tempos for months and months. In retrospect, glad I cut it off at 3 tempo miles. Still a good workout, but I wasn't just totally obliterated and had some life in the legs running home. Plus I'm running with Sheri at 5:45 in the morning...

Dark and early with Sheri and May. And cold. I have no idea where she was taking me, other than I went under the freeway twice at an underpass I didn't know existed. Kept it nice and slow, which was good after last night's tempo run; I was still quite sore 11 hours later.

MLR, did the same loop twice. Garmin and Mapmyrun agreed on the distance of the first loop but not the second (they were identical), so I'm going with that distance: 6.06 X 2. Time for first loop was 57:xx; overall time was 1:51:14, so it was at least a 3-minute negative split. Felt pretty good. I overdressed for the first loop (tights, long sleeves, gloves, headband) and ditched all of those after the first loop for shorts and a short sleeved tech shirt, and was quite comfortable on the second loop. Maybe, just maybe, I'm getting back in gear.

Easy 5 with Kathy L., threw in some hill sprints at the end just for the heck of it, because I haven't done any in ages. They went OK. We'll see if I pay for them later. Kathy's still having trouble with that ankle and may need an MRI to see why it's still swelling. But she seemed to get through today all right. We'll do another 4 or so Sunday unless it swells again.

Dark and early at the WAR room with George, Rose, Jamie, Jessica, Jesse P. and Nathan. I hadn't planned to run anything faster than 9:30. Hah! I found myself having to run 9:20 just to stay within visual range. Then in the second loop, I ran even faster, and hammered the last two miles in well under 9:00. If I maintained today's average pace for 26.2, I'd run a 4:01 in Baton Rouge. Felt good to ask my body to do something difficult and it responded, like hammering those last two miles. Even George felt those last two miles. Kinda nice to see him grabbing his shorts after we finished...

Today took me over 1300 for the year. If I continue to follow Pfitz reasonably closely, 1500 for the year shouldn't be a problem. I have 30 days to get 190 miles.I really hope this month goes well enough that I abandon the 4:00 goal for BR and start thinking like 3:45, but we'll just have to see. I have to stay injury-free and not get sick, for one thing.

Going back and looking at the splits yesterday, 12 of the 15 miles were within 10 seconds of 4:00 pace (or a lot lower). So, really, that was an MP run. I will try to do another one next Monday, just a little bit harder, and see if I can realistically aim for maybe a 3:45. A BQ ain't happening, not until I get this weight off. I have to find another race, maybe late spring. Hopefully by then Jen can come with me, but I'm not gonna hold my breath on that one.

Easy run this morning with Kathy L. and Staci at the WAR room. Too warm, too windy, but not horrible. Wouldn't have wanted to do 15 in these conditions, but I could have done a couple more. That's OK. This will be the recovery week I didn't take last week.

Took two days off because Pfitz said so, then back at it this morning. I'd planned 5 x 1000 at SHS, but legs were very heavy. So I just kept it long and slow. Dredged out an old 10-mile route I hadn't done in a while. Note to self: Don't do that route at 7:30 on a Wednesday. Traffic was brutal and no sidewalks for the first four miles. Nobody hit me though, and I got through it, with one minor GI issue resolved with the help of a vacant, overgrown lot... Maybe I'll do that speedwork Friday. Maybe not.

10K after work at SHS. Kinda cruised for 24 laps, then semi-busted the last one. Felt OK. We'll see how it feels when I try to do 1000-meter reps tomorrow night. IF I try to to 1000s.

Tyler drove himself to the airport today while I was at work to fly to SC to visit his mom. I drove home, changed clothes, ran to the airport (the long way), picked up his car and drive it home. Wound up being a 6 mile run. Didn't feel like running at all, as two quick trips into the bushes re-emphasized. Legs were OK, GI wasn't. But I got there without undue mess. No way I could have done the speedwork I had been scheduled to do.

Hilly.Humid. 9.3 on the bike trails along Massard on both sides. Finished just before the rain started. Would have rather finished after the rain started, but whatever. Got it done. Now for work.

Took me a long time to get motivated and get out the door this morning, almost until noon. And I neglected little details like eating adequately before the run, or drinking adequately during the run. But I got 18 done anyway, with 7+at what passes for marathon pace these days. Wasn't pretty; I bonked badly on Old Greenwood and hurt badly from then on. But it's in the books, and I'm a lot closer to 1500, not to mention getting ready for the Corndogs.

Six miles on Phoenix with strides thrown in the last 3/4 mile, just because I felt like it. Beautiful weather for a run, before I went to work (thought I was off today; wrong).

Easy 4-mile fun run at Riley Farm to benefit the Martinez Scholarship fund. Took it relatively slow for three miles, until Rose caught up to me. Then we both kinda put the hammer down. After that little race (I won), I looped back to find Sheri and Heidi and put in another mile and a half. That part was a lot slower.

Interesting run. Set out from the house toward SHS and my back locked up, so badly that I couldn't even run. The first thing I tried was to walk for a while and see if that would help. It did, some. I could jog from the Rogers crossing to SHS. Got there, stretched for a bit, then tried to start my 5-mile tempo run. A mile at just over 8:00 was the best I could do. Walked a lap, then tried again. Now the body kicked in. Two miles at 7:59. Recovered for another lap, then the last two miles. This time I managed 7:48 pace, in spite of my shoe coming untied with two laps to go (or maybe because of that brief recovery time). Then jogged three miles home. Total of about 11.3, good quality tempo work, which didn't seem possible when I left the house.

Joined Sherrie, Jill, and the crew at Wells Lake this morning, and Sherrie led us down the bike trail by the amphitheater. Yes, that bike trail. My quads are still complaining. Stayed with the group for four miles, then headed back to the car while they went into Ben Geren. All in all, a good recovery 6.5, about what I wanted, minus the hills on that trail.

On track for 200+ this month and 1500+ for the year. I may not be ready to run a PR at Baton Rouge, but I should be prepared for a good run.

Just back from an excellent 20 at Ben Geren with Lia and Jessi. We all ran together for two loops, in 9:25 and 9:15 average. Lia bailed then and Jessi and I ran another three miles together before she bailed. Then the last four+ miles, I pretty much put the hammer down. No bonking, no cramps, no huge fatigue issues, just asking my body to give me something and it responded. A nice feeling. Jessi was still in the parking lot when I got back. She had done 17, a new mileage PR for her, and cramped afterward. Boy, do I know that feeling. But I did that last loop in under an hour, which was gratifying. I'm not in shape to go for a PR in Baton Rouge, but I think 3:45 might be doable. Then go for it in Michigan in May.

Intervals at the track. Left home at dawn, ran up there, stretched, and set out. Reps were 5 X 600, trying to keep it under 1:45/lap. Times were 2:39, 2:40, 2:37, 2:37 and 2:34. So the slowest two were over 7:00 pace, the fastest was under, and the other two were right at 7:00. Mission sort of accomplished. Temp was right around freezing, which worked. I wore tights, which probably slowed me down a tad, but not uncomfortable at all. Now to get ready for work...

Didn't realize a thunderstorm was approaching until two thirds of the way into my MLR tonight. By the three-fourths mark it was raining. By 85% it was raining REAL hard. And I was running real fast. Didn't get struck, so I guess it worked. The last 3.05 miles in less than 26 minutes, and it felt faster than that.

Decided to go to SHS and work out some kinks after watching the basketball game. Jogged a very easy 4, then did strides on the turf with very easy recovery jogs. Went OK. Strides were comfortable but not very fast. But kinks are now out. I guess. Might do another easy 5 in the morning; we'll see how I feel. Some significant wind chill out there, easily subfreezing after the front came through last night. At least I'm not in Nebraska, which got blizzards today.

Easy 5 to SHS and back after work, since the bed magnet got me this morning.

Supposed to be up at 6 to go run at 7. Well, the alarm went off -- and I slept through it for 55 minutes. Woke up, threw on running clothes and headed to Wells Lake; I only got there 15 minutes late. We set off on two five-mile loops. I put the hammer down on the second loop, hoping to finish before I got called to work (I did).

17.1 on a new course. Even with net uphills on the last half, I negative split that puppy, with last 5.1 under 9:10. Right now, that qualifies as MP. Let's see if it will actually be MP in 27 days in Corndog City.

Met Sheri Nicholls at the Two Rivers Bridge in Little Rock for an easy Christmas morning run. We crossed the bridge, which I'd never run before, into the park, and then out toward Pinnacle on roads I had run before with the Crackheads. Kept the pace slow, around 10:00, which was fine after yesterday's 17 and Sheri's recovery from surgery. It was about 33 degrees and raining. I'm gonna have to leave shortly after Christmas dinner and hope the snow doesn't come in earlier than expected.

At the WAR room this morning with George and Coffelt. As usual, had trouble keeping up early, then George put the hammer down for the last mile. Still wound up with about a 9:19 average, taking out a shoetying/potty stop and a brief stop to decide which way to run. So it went OK. We'll see if I have anything left for speedwork tomorrow.

Intervals at the track, in the snow (too warm to stick, but snowing nonetheless). Warmed up for 3 miles. Plan was 4X1200 at 5K pace. That pace used to be 7:00; right now, it's not. As usual, had a tough time getting up to speed. First rep at 7:30 pace. Jogged 700m. Next rep, 7:25. Another 700 recovery. Third rep, 7:20. Getting closer, not quite there. REcovered for 600 this time. Last rep, 7:11. That would actually qualify as decent 5K pace. Jogged for 3 miles to complete the workout.

My back was really stiff this morning when I left the house to meet Kathy L. for a shortie. She's just getting over a fractured ankle, so I knew she would be going slow. Just what I needed. Took my back a couple of miles to loosen, and we never did speed up much. We did 3 together, then I ran back home to finish my 4.5.

Running with Rose, Jessie and Jill tomorrow. All three of them may run off and leave me, but that's OK. Just get the 20 or so done, which will put me at 70ish for the week.Very good way to finish off 2012 from a running standpoint. So much so that I'll take NYE off (which is what's on the schedule anyway). 

If I define MP as anything under 4:00 pace, then I did three-fourths of today's run at sub MP. We got out there and hammered it. Lia was Lia, cruising along at 9:00 pace, Jessi and Rose right there with her. On all three loops, I got behind them and then made up the time and then some. Jessi beat me on the last loop, otherwise I beat everybody else. I guess I'm in better shape than I thought. Now to taper and sharpen for Corndog City. I feel like sub 4 should be a given with a good taper and good strategy.